"The Uncommon Reader" is a fun and whimsical piece about a monarch who rediscovers the printed word. ( )

The Review

My friend, Lisa, lent me this book after our book club meeting last week. From the looks of her review, I believe she enjoyed it. One of the things that she states in her review is that the reader can see themselves in the Queen, herself. I could totally relate when her reading appetite increases.

Overall, this quick little royal jaunt is about how the Queen of England, quite frankly by accident, starts reading literature. One after another, she devours them up. Her interest in reading becomes such a part of her persona that there are other aspects of her life that she tends to allow to hold less importance for her. As you can imagine, others around her discourage this change and attempt to alter her path.

One thing that the Queen discovers is that there is a writer inside of her that needs to emerge as a result of this reading. Bravo, Queenie!

What made this novella enjoyable for me were some of the terrific quotes in there:

” ‘… Books are not about passing time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.’ “

“Books did not defer. All readers were equal, and this took her back to the beginning of her life.”

“Authors, she soon decided, were probably best met within the pages of their novels, and as much creatures of the reader’s imagination as the character in their books. Nor did they seem to think one had done them a kindness by reading their writings. Rather they had done one the kindness by writing them.”

“You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there.”

I am finding that I am enjoying the “novella.” With two being reviewed this week, I enjoy the speed and conciseness of the novella. This was a particularly charming book and because I am an avid reader, I could relate.

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

As you will see in my review of Disquiet, I have really only read and reviewed two novellas and they both are fiction. I think I preferred Disquiet to The Uncommon Reader, although I did like this book. Consequently, the genre Fiction:Novella, I am going to rate this book an 8 OUT OF 10. ( )

One night whilst walking her ill tempered corgi's in the palace grounds, the Queen stumbles across a travlling library. Her manners lead her to check out a book and she is not one to turn down a challenge so she finishes reading it. She doesn't enjoy it but on returning it she tries again advised by Norman Seakins, a young man from the kitchen whose interest is primarily gay books.

The second book is a big hit with her and she quickly becomes hooked on reading. However, her advisors are not happy about this sudden turn in events. They worry that her reading is elitist and doesn't teach the public anything. She seems to come out with what they consider inappropriate questions and comments to visiting dignitaries. She takes books in her carriage with her hidden below the window and is always recommendting a good book to everyone including the Prime Minister.

I mostly loved this but I felt the ending was a let down. It was an excellent premise and it made me wonder much more about the Queen and what her hobbies might be. What must it be like to live her life? The problem was how to end it, it didn't really go anywhere and I wondered what Bennet's motivation was for writing it. ( )

Friends Lunch Bunch pick for .... Small book but packed with all kinds of comments on life and Britain. Made a list of all the authors and books mentioned and it was about 75 (more or less) items long. Had some Brits in the group who enlightened us all on some of the snide comments about the royals players. Queen Elizabeth discovers reading and starts to neglect her duties because she has her nose in a book. Then she starts to ask her subjects questions like What are you reading? Eventually she is unhappy with reading though because she is a "doer." Wants to write. The consequences of that are startling.

I bought a few books in London this week and while packing for the flight back home I put The Uncommon Reader in my bag simply because it is a slim book. I was holding the book while walking down the aisle to my seat, and this man smiled widely at me from his seat, pointed to the book, and said (in Hebrew): “This is the funniest book in the world”. I told him I haven’t started reading it yet, and he said: “lucky you!”. So when I sat down in my spacious EL AL economy-class seat and opened the book, expectations were high.

Alan Bennett is the author of known West End plays, most recently “The History Boys”. In this book he weaves an exquisitely lovely and quintessentially British story about Queen Elizabeth II becoming an avid reader in her old age. Chasing her dogs on a walk through the palace grounds, she stumbles upon a travelling library van, where she meets Norman, who works in the royal kitchens. The young boy introduces Her Majesty to the world of books and becomes her confidante in the matter of reading, after the Queen promotes him from the kitchen to become her personal assistant. She struggles through the first book – which she borrowed from the library van only out of her “sense of duty” – but quickly enough she starts devouring books at a brisk rate.

Reading eventually interferes with her duties as Queen and people around her conspire to return things to normal. She embarrasses the Prime Minister and other dignitaries by asking them about their literary preferences, only to discover most of them do not read. The book builds to a crescendo when the Queen decides to dabble in writing herself and takes the necessary (and logical) step to allow her to do so.

This book is a love poem for reading, so any reader will love it. The humour is good and I did laugh out loud a couple of times (to the consternation of my fellow travellers). Even though I wouldn’t necessarily label it as “the funniest book in the world”, it is a book I recommend with all my heart. ( )